Dienstag, 18. Oktober 2011

East Side / Football Game


East Side Gallery
East Side Gallery - Pink Floyd the Wall Painting
For CIEE the study abroad program in the United states we are given the opportunity to do additional trips around Berlin.   I had the opportunity to walk the length of the East Side Gallery with Günther Schaefer and some fellow students.  The longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, the East Side Gallery is covered in paintings by artists from around the world, painted in 1990 following the fall of the wall.  One of these artists was Günther, whose controversial “Vaterland” painting depicts Israel’s flag on top of Germany’s flag.  Günther explained to us that many of the paintings, his especially, have been the victims of vandalism and require refurbishing every six months.  Most of the paintings involved some sort of peaceful message, usually including a denouncement of war and oppression.
East Side Gallery - Gunther Painting 


Football Game
That afternoon, I met up with some friends Berlin’s Olympiastadion for the Hertha Berlin vs. Augsburg soccer match.  The program FU-Best which is through Freie Universität the Berlin school gave us tickets for this or one of the other football games for free. Originally built for the 1936 Olympics, the Olympiastadion has played host to several historic sporting events, including Jesse Owens’s four gold medal performances at the Olympics, three matches of the 1974 World Cup, and six matches, including the final, of the 2006 World Cup.  The massive stadium still retains an aura of the Nazi landscape, despite several renovations throughout the years.  Being able to attend my first European soccer match was an awesome experience, one that I will never forget. Although the game ended in a 2-2 tie, the atmosphere was still rocking from start to finish.  

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